Mayor Dean, MNPD & Community Leaders Officially Open New Midtown Hills Precinct on 12th Avenue South

8/18/2014

August 18, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mayor Karl Dean today joined Police Chief Steve Anderson, members of the Metro Police Department and community leaders in celebrating the grand opening of the new Midtown Hills Precinct, Nashville’s eighth full-service police facility. Midtown Hills marks the second major expansion of police department operations during Mayor Dean’s administration and follows the creation of the Madison Precinct in January 2012.

“This new precinct means our police officers have less area to cover and more time to spend in the community, working with neighbors and business owners,” Mayor Dean said. “The area covered by this precinct includes three of our city’s major universities, Belmont, Lipscomb and Vanderbilt, which are an essential part of our city’s economic success. Beyond the clear public safety benefits, this new police precinct has also enhanced this neighborhood – and new development is starting to follow.”

Located at 1443 12th Avenue South, the Midtown Hills Precinct is home to 125 police personnel. They serve a 47.2 square mile area, carved from the South and West Precincts, which includes the communities of Edgehill, Green Hills, Forest Hills, Oak Hill and Crieve Hall, as well as Vanderbilt, Belmont and Lipscomb Universities. As part of the realignment of precincts, the area covered by the Hermitage Precinct decreased, as well.

“The opening of the Midtown Hills Precinct greatly extends our outreach to Nashville’s families and businesses,” Chief Anderson said. “Partnerships formed at the grassroots level by police officers throughout the city are absolutely vital to our continuing public safety success. Midtown Hills will be a catalyst for even stronger collaboration as we work together with citizens to reduce crime and enhance quality of life in the diverse communities covered by this precinct.”

Midtown Hills is commanded by Kay Lokey, a 17-year police department veteran who formerly headed the Domestic Violence Division. The new precinct includes patrol officers, flex officers, detectives and an undercover team to address street level drug complaints. The precinct itself is 23,000 square feet in size and represents a $9.7 million dollar investment in the continued safety of Nashville. The building also contains a 2,000-square foot-community room to host neighborhood meetings and celebrations.

Mayor Dean included funding in the current fiscal year’s budget for an additional 58 police officer positions required to staff the Midtown Hills Precinct. Those 58 positions bring the police department’s authorized sworn strength to 1,431 officers, the highest number in the city’s history.

State-of-the-art police facilities to assist officers in their work have also been a priority for Mayor Dean. In addition to creating the new Midtown Hills Precinct and Madison Precinct, Mayor Dean opened the city’s first ever full-service DNA Crime Laboratory. Additionally, Mayor Dean opened new facilities with expanded quarters for the Central and West Precincts.

Thomas, Miller & Partners was the architect for the Midtown Hills Police Precinct. Messer Construction Co. was the construction manager and general contractor. Messer has been involved in the construction of public buildings for the past 80 years. Messer’s recent Metro work includes the Bellevue Library, several Nashville Fire Department stations, the Howard Office Building, Madison Police Precinct and West Police Precinct.